Mailboxhttp://www.iphonelife.com/taxonomy/term/7193/
en10 Must-Have Apps for Your iPhonehttp://www.iphonelife.com/blog/32082/app-champions-you-must-have-0
<p>The basic group of apps you need on your Apple device is a subjective selection. The perfect app for one person is a dud to another; the app one person uses daily may be a headache to someone else. Risking a barrage of disagreement and discontent, I pose the following list of apps as the ideal home base for any iDevice. After years of slogging back and forth, trying this app, rejecting that one, testing this one, discarding that one, the seemingly endless task is done. Here is the final cut, the apps I found I was using over and over, without complaint, lamentation, or griping.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I do not offer these apps as a list of <em>“</em>the very best,” no such list can be drawn, but these apps are the <em>“</em>rock solid” ones. They may lack pizzazz, but they get the job done, effectively and with minimal fuss.</p>
<p><span>Here it is, the ideal list of </span><span>apps for your Apple device:</span></p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/simplenote-76x75.jpg" style="width:76px; height:75px; margin:0px 10px; float:left" title="" width="76" height="75" /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplenote/id289429962?mt=8">Simplenote&nbsp;</a><strong>(free)</strong>.<em>&nbsp;</em>Use this basic writing app to write notes, short reminders, explanations, or descriptive paragraphs. It is easy to use, visually clean, and efficiently direct, and it has an excellent search system. This appropriately named note maker is simply the best note-making app out there.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/fantastical%202-76x75.jpg" style="width:76px; height:75px; float:left; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px" title="" width="76" height="75" /></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fantastical-2-calendar-reminders/id718043190?mt=8">Fantastical 2 </a></strong><strong>($2.99)</strong>&nbsp;is a great calendar app: simple, clear, easy to use, and very practical with its variety of views and events/tasks summary. It is the reigning champ of calendars at a reasonably low price! Saying more about this app’s outstanding features and simplicity in use would be gilding the lily.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/gmail_0-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; float:left; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px" title="" width="75" height="75" /></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-from-google/id422689480?mt=8">Gmail</a>&nbsp;(free)</strong> is one of the best email apps on any platform. It does its job cleanly and it does it well. Its generous use of white space keeps user attention clearly focused on the message being written. Cross platform universality means desktop modifications will reach your digital device app. Google updates the app periodically and each revision seems to be a significant improvement to what is already a solid email app.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/mailbox_0-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="75" height="75" /><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8">Mailbox</a>&nbsp;(free)&nbsp;</strong>is a notable contender for the email crown worn by Gmail. This app helps you maintain a "zero” mailbox with just a gesture or two. Swipe one way, the message is archived; swipe and pause, and it is deleted; swipe the other way and your email is filed for later action or viewing at a time of your choosing. One of the handiest email apps around!</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/wunderlist-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="75" height="75" /></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wunderlist-to-do-task-list/id406644151?mt=8">Wunderlist</a>&nbsp;(free).</strong> Every iDevice user needs a good to-do list manager and Wunderlist is one of the best. An added bonus is that the app syncs seamlessly across all platforms. Users can create folders with lists of tasks and/or to do’s. Though Wunderlist lacks glitz and glamor, it does what it is designed to do solidly, without flare or bombastic flash. It is the task/to-do list manager of choice</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/errands-76x75.jpg" style="width:76px; height:75px; float:left; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px" title="" width="76" height="75" /><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/errands-to-do-list/id318095638?mt=8">Errands</a> (free)</strong>. Apple users have reasons to gloat as Errands, arguably the best task/to do list manager anywhere is only available on iOS devices. This outstanding app is a great alternative to Wunderlist. It is colorful without overdoing it, clean, and effective, and it does it all in a simple, utilitarian way. Because it lacks the cross-platform connectivity of Wunderlist, the championship crown stays with Wunderlist.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/alarmed-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="75" height="75" /><strong><a href="http://Alarmed – Reminders and Timers">Alarmed – Reminders and Timers</a> (free)</strong>.<strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong>My favorite app on my iPod Touch, Alarmed – Reminders and Timers is a terrific alarm app which can be customized with the dates and times of your choosing. The app is also a timer which allows you to create individualized, custom-titled timers of varying duration. This wonderful little application belies its amazingly comprehensive nature and and surprisingly effective utility.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/evernote_1-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="75" height="75" /><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8">Evernote&nbsp;</a>(free)</strong>.<strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong>Storage is essential to good record keeping. Evernote&nbsp;does it all and it does it everywhere across all platforms. The free version will satisfy most users; but for a reasonable price, the premium version will satisfy everyone. The power of Evernote is appreciated only after working with it a little. It permits quick short notes or hugely detailed ones and saving of audio, photo, and text files. And its built in OCR tool handily converts copy images to text. Finally, its lightning fast search capability and amazingly effective tagging system makes it the true champion of storage apps.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/photoshop%20express-76x75.jpg" style="width:76px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="76" height="75" /><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop-express/id331975235?mt=8">Photoshop Express</a>&nbsp;(free)</strong>.<strong>&nbsp;</strong>This&nbsp;very useful photo editing app will help improve photos in a variety of areas: lighting, contrast, focus, and even removal of extraneous subject matter. An excellent photo editing for nonprofessionals who want to modify photos with minimal effort and ease.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31961/last%20pass-75x75.jpg" style="width:75px; height:75px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:left" title="" width="75" height="75" /></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lastpass-for-premium-customers/id324613447?mt=8">Last Pass</a> (free)</strong>. Every user should consider a password manager for their device and LastPass may very well be the best<em>. </em>The benefit of a password manager is that you need to remember only&nbsp;one password to unlock all your stored passwords. The premium edition at&nbsp;<span>$1 a month is your best bet. Stored passwords are encrypted and decrypted locally thereby securely locking them on the commercial server. An added bonus is that </span>LastPass<span> can be used across the entire spectrum of devices.</span></p>
AlarmedAppsErrandsEvernoteFantastical 2GmailLastPassMailboxphotoshop expressProductivitySimplenoteTop StoryWunderlist687074098318095638281796108718043190422689480324613447576502633331975235289429962406644151Mon, 03 Feb 2014 20:06:10 +0000Richard Szpin176929 at http://www.iphonelife.comCannonball Wants to Turn Email into a "Visual Activity"http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31830/cannonball-wants-turn-email-visual-activity
<p><img alt="Cannonball" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u31830/Cannonball%20logo%20%28Full%29-600x182.png" style="width:600px; height:182px" title="" width="600" height="182" /></p>
<p>Sorting your email messages can be tedious, but <strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/cannonball-email/id701582906">Cannonball </a>(free)</strong> hopes to turn the process into a more "visual activity." The app will join the ranks of other popular email clients, like<strong> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id576502633?mt=8">Mailbox</a>&nbsp;(free)</strong>&nbsp;and <strong><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id328890658?mt=8">AltaMail</a>&nbsp;($4.99)</strong>.</p>
<p>Cannonball seeks to utilize the iPad's touchscreen experience to create a more intuitive inbox display. With up-to-date categories and sorting features, your inbox becomes easier to maintain.</p>
<p></p>
<p>While Mailbox, Altamail and other email managment apps are seemingly&nbsp;"inbox zero" apps, Cannonball focuses on separating messages based on priority. By removing clutter, essential messages can be found quickly and easily.</p>
<div>“Today’s offerings focus on the mythical goal of ‘inbox zero’ rather than focusing on how email&nbsp;<span>could</span><span> </span><span>be</span><span> </span><span>engaging</span><span> </span><span>and</span><span> </span><span>enjoyable,”</span><span> </span><span>said</span><span> </span><span>Raffaele</span><span> </span><span>Colella,</span><span> </span><span>one</span><span> </span><span>of</span><span> </span><span>Cannonball’s</span><span> </span><span>founders.</span><span> </span><span>“Our&nbsp;</span><span>personal</span><span> </span><span>inboxes</span><span> </span><span>have</span><span> </span><span>become</span><span> </span><span>a</span><span> </span><span>mess</span><span> </span><span>of</span><span> </span><span>messages</span><span> </span><span>with</span><span> </span><span>no</span><span> </span><span>sense</span><span> </span><span>of</span><span> </span><span>control</span><span> </span><span>and</span><span> </span><span>we</span><span> </span><span>want</span><span> </span><span>to&nbsp;</span><span>change</span><span> </span><span>that.</span><span> </span><span>Cannonball’s</span><span> </span><span>mission</span><span> </span><span>is</span><span> </span><span>to</span><span> </span><span>make</span><span> </span><span>the</span><span> </span><span>inbox</span><span> </span><span>not</span><span> </span><span>only</span><span> </span><span>less</span><span> </span><span>cluttered,</span><span> </span><span>but</span><span> </span><span>also</span><span> </span><span>visually&nbsp;</span><span>appealing</span><span> </span><span>so</span><span> </span><span>that</span><span> </span><span>users</span><span> </span><span>really</span><span> </span><span>do</span><span> </span><span>fall</span><span> </span><span>in</span><span> </span><span>love</span><span> </span><span>with</span><span> </span><span>email</span><span> </span><span>again.”</span></div>
<p>Emails are automatically sorted based on importance, removing newsletters, coupons, and other promotions from the rest of your inbox. Promotional messages show up in the right column as visual icons, which can be shared with contacts or deleted in bulk.</p>
<p>You will receive notifications for important emails, whereas coupons and newsletter are marked as "read" for later viewing. By dragging and dropping specific emails in certain sections, the app learns your organizational preferences.</p>
<p>To streamline your personal preferences even further, the search function within the app anticipates what you may be searching for. Instead of typing keywords or names, the app predicts what you might be searching for without having to type anything at all.</p>
<p>While the app is only available to Gmail users with the initial release,&nbsp;support for Yahoo, iCloud,&nbsp;<span>AOL,</span><span> </span><span>and</span><span> </span><span>Outlook.com</span><span> </span><span>accounts</span><span> </span><span>will</span><span> </span><span>be</span><span> </span><span>added</span><span> </span><span>soon</span><span>.</span></p>
<p><img alt="Cannonball Screenshot" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/u31830/1391864_402456019881221_1061381017_n.png" style="width:680px; height:451px" title="" width="680" height="451" /></p>
altamailAppsCannonball eMailMailboxProductivity328890658576502633Wed, 23 Oct 2013 21:06:10 +0000Jordan Joynt167236 at http://www.iphonelife.comRevolutionary Free Mailbox App Comes to iPadhttp://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/revolutionary-free-mailbox-app-comes-ipad
<p><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u5/mailbox-app-ipad-350x260.png" style="width:350px; height:260px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:right" width="350" height="260" />Since day one, the free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8">Mailbox</a> app has been hugely popular due to the unique email management features it introduced. With simple swipes left and right, you can quickly organize and clear your inbox. The developer <a href="http://www.mailboxapp.com/blog/?p=1#mailbox-now-on-your-ipad">announced</a>&nbsp;yesterday that the app is now available in a version tailored to the larger screen of the iPad.</p>
<p><span>The app has more than 1 million users, who value Mailbox's mission of getting to "inbox zero." The company claims that 40 percent of its users get to that laudable state at least once a week.</span></p>
<p><span>The iPad version is similar to the one for the iPhone, but takes advantage of the larger screen by offering a bigger box for composing emails and by using a menu drawer that opens beside your inbox rather than replacing it.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>When the Mailbox app was first posted in the App Store, you had to put yourself on a waiting list while they gradually rolled out the service. A month ago, however, they opened it up to everyone. In March, Dropbox acquired Mailbox. The app currently only works with Gmail, but they say other versions will be coming soon.</p>
<p>Mailbox lets you manage your email by using gestures to archive or delete messages, to "snooze" them so you can view them later, or to put them in a folder, which Mailbox terms a "list."&nbsp;You can make a short swipe to the right to archive a message. The message turns green, letting you know it will be archived. If you make a longer swipe to the right, the message turns red, indicating it will be deleted. Swiping to the left lets you snooze the message or move it to a list. A short swipe to the left turns the message green and presents a range of default snooze options: later today, this evening, tomorrow, this weekend, next week, in a month, or someday.</p>
<p>You can define "someday" as a period of months. You&nbsp;<span>also&nbsp;</span><span>can precisely define the other intervals as well. You can stipulate, for example, that "later today" means in three hours. The grid of options that pops up also includes a button you can tap to specify a particular date and time. Making a long swipe left moves the message to a list you've created. Tapping and holding messages lets you move them up or down in your inbox.</span></p>
<p>There are many more great features. Note that you aren't limited to using gestures; you also can initiate these actions after opening a message simply by tapping icons. The app has a number of viewing options, including threaded conversations and a view that shows all of Mailbox's features in a list.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
AppsMailboxProductivityTop StoryiPad576502633Fri, 24 May 2013 15:35:12 +0000Jim Karpen152736 at http://www.iphonelife.comRevolutionary Free Email App Mailbox Now Available for Downloadinghttp://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/revolutionary-free-email-app-mailbox-now-available-downloading
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8"><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/resize/u5/mailbox-250x426.png" style="width:250px; height:426px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:right" width="250" height="426" />Mailbox</a>,&nbsp;an extraordinary new free app&nbsp;for effectively managing your inbox, is now available for downloading. Previously, you had to put your name on a waiting list, but now anyone can download the app.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>The app has generated a huge amount of interest because it&nbsp;completely rethinks the way you can use your iPhone to manage the onslaught of email.&nbsp;</span><span>You use simple gestures in list view to archive or delete emails, to "snooze" them for later viewing, or file them away in a "list," which is like a folder.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>A short swipe to the right archives the message; the message turns green to indicate it understands your inte<span>ntion to archive. A longer swipe to the right turns the message red, indicating it will be sent to the trash.&nbsp;In addition, gestures to the left let you snooze the message or move it to a list. A short left swipe turns the message green and gives you a range of default snooze options:&nbsp;later today, this evening, tomorrow, this weekend, next week, in a month, or someday.</span></p>
<p>You can define "someday" as a particular period of months. And you can precisely define the other intervals too. For example, you can specify "later today" to mean in three hours. The grid of options that pops up also includes a button you can tap to specify a particular date and time.&nbsp;A long swipe left moves the message to a predefined list you've created, such as "Items To Buy." You can create as many lists as you want, and any changes are then also reflected in your Gmail account.&nbsp;You also&nbsp;can tap and hold messages to move them up or down in your inbox.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The vision behind Mailbox is to make it easier to clear your inbox so messages don't just keep piling up.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The app has many other appealing features as well. While I've emphasized the gestures in list view to quickly deal with your messages, you also can invoke these actions if you've opened a message&nbsp;simply by tapping the related icons. The app also has a number of different and convenient views, including threaded conversations you can quickly expand and a view that shows all of Mailbox's features in a list.</p>
<p>The video below gives you a quick and clear idea of how it works.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="388" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/54553882?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="690"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/54553882">Meet Mailbox</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/mailbox">Mailbox</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
AppsMailboxProductivityTop StoryiPhone576502633Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:56:16 +0000Jim Karpen148993 at http://www.iphonelife.comQ&A with Mailbox — The Rollout of a Revolutionary, Free E-mail Apphttp://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/more-mailbox-revolutionary-free-email-app
<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8"><img alt="" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/u5/mailbox.png" style="width:272px; height:463px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:10px; float:right" width="272" height="463" /></a></p>
<p>The new <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8">Mailbox</a> app is receiving a phenomenal response, with wide coverage in major media, including a highlight in this week's issue of in <em>Time</em> <em>Magazine</em>. The goal of Mailbox is to help you deal with the daily onslaught of e-mail to achieve an inbox with zero messages. Both the app and the service are free.</p>
<p>The company is making the app available gradually to make sure everything is working properly. If you download the app, you'll be added to the queue of people waiting to use it. You can use the app to track your progress in the queue. According to some reports, there are nearly 1 million people in the queue, and Mailbox is releasing the app at a rate of 800 users per hour.</p>
<p>After writing an <a href="http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/mailbox-newly-released-free-app-revolutionizes-email-management">earlier post</a> about Mailbox (a post that's exceeded 700 shares), I contacted the company with further questions. Here are the answers I received from a company spokesperson.</p>
<p><strong>Q. What's the main concept behind Mailbox that makes it different from other e-mail apps?</strong></p>
<p>A. Mailbox is the inbox reinvented for a world on the go.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It’s how e-mail on the phone should work: Mailbox checks your e-mail from the cloud and delivers it to your phone with lightning-fast speed. A colorful swipe-based UI makes processing a delight. And unique “snooze buttons” let you put off messages until later.</p>
<p>Mailbox makes getting to zero—and staying there—a breeze. After you experience a clean inbox, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Do you think of it as an e-mail app?</strong> </p>
<p>A. Yes. We're challenging assumptions about how e-mail should work and redesigning the inbox for a world on the go.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Where did the idea for the app come from?</strong> </p>
<p>A. We’re passionate about creating tools that take the friction out of work. We’ve noticed that e-mail is a particularly friction-filled medium that’s also heavily used, and mobile use of e-mail is especially painful. We’re inspired to fix that.</p>
<p><strong>Q. How has the app been received? Do people get it?</strong></p>
<p>A. We're very happy with the reception to the product and the frequency with which people swipe their way to inbox zero.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Do you see mobile devices as playing an increasing role in e-mail management?</strong> </p>
<p>A. Definitely. What people want to do with e-mail on their phones is very different from what they want to do on their computers. The number one use of mobile e-mail is triage, and Mailbox makes this much more efficient.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Any idea when the rollout will be complete and users will be able to download it immediately?</strong> </p>
<p>A. E-mail is mission critical and people expect it to work reliably, so our top priority thus far has been adding people as fast as we can without overloading the service. Given the importance of stability in an e-mail client, we want to maximize our chances of scaling without outages. The best way to find out how soon you'll have access to your Mailbox is to track the queue using the app.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Similarly, any idea when it may be available for use with other IMAP services?</strong> </p>
<p>A. Mailbox is currently for iPhone and Gmail/Google Apps. We look forward to adding support for other devices and e-mail providers as we go, but we don't have any specifics to share on timing at the moment.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Will it eventually work with iCloud?</strong> </p>
<p>A. iCloud can already be used to sync your Mailbox (under "documents and data").</p>
<p><strong>Q. How seamlessly does it work with Gmail, and were there special challenges in achieving that?</strong></p>
<p><strong>A. </strong>Mailbox works seamlessly with Gmail and Google Apps.</p>
<p><strong>Q. Does creating a List in Mailbox automatically create a Label in Gmail?</strong></p>
<p>A. Mailbox lists already sync with Gmail labels and you can sync an existing label by moving it under the [Mailbox] label in Gmail. The team is currently working on a design that would extend label support to any Gmail label in the future.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>I think it's great that developers are coming up with ways to help people deal with the huge influx of e-mail, and that mobile devices are playing an increasing role in e-mail management.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
AppsMailboxProductivityTop Story576502633Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:49:52 +0000Jim Karpen144301 at http://www.iphonelife.comMailbox App Expected to Revolutionize Email Managementhttp://www.iphonelife.com/blog/5/mailbox-newly-released-free-app-revolutionizes-email-management
<p><img alt="" height="371" src="http://static.iphonelife.com/sites/iphonelife.com/files/u31078/mailbox.png" title="" width="309" /></p>
<p>Here's the good news:&nbsp;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailbox/id576502633?mt=8">Mailbox</a> is an extraordinary new free app&nbsp;for effectively managing your inbox. But the bad news is, it only works with Gmail, and downloading the app simply puts you on a waiting list as its developers gradually roll it out. (There are already several hundred thousand eager iPhone users lined up ahead of you.)</p>
<p>Why is the app creating such a buzz? It completely rethinks the way you use your iPhone to manage your typical deluge of emails. After reading the description on <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/2027388/review-mailbox-for-iphone-belongs-in-your-dock.html#tk.nl_mwdaily">Macworld</a>, I realized I indeed need this. Mailbox, whose developers include the son of senior Apple VP Eddy Cue, lets you use simple gestures in the list view to archive or delete emails, to "snooze" them for later viewing, or file them away in a "list," which is like a folder. The video below gives you a quick and clear idea of how it works.</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/54553882" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe></p>
<p>A short swipe to the right archives the message, with the message turning green to indicate it understands your intention to archive. A longer swipe to the right turns the message red, indicating it will be sent to the trash. Since the app uses IMAP, any changes you make are also made in your Gmail account online. I spend a lot of time plowing through my inbox on my iPad, and I could immediately see that this is faster and more fluid. Tapping the trash can in Apple's Mail just always seems a little slow and cumbersome when I'm deleting messages. I even find Android's list view more convenient, in which I tap a check box next to each message I want to delete and then trash them all at one time.</p>
<p>In addition to archiving and deleting, gestures to the left let you snooze the message or move it to a list. A short left swipe turns the message green and gives you a range of default snooze options:&nbsp;later today, this evening, tomorrow, this weekend, next week, in a month, or someday. You can define "someday" as a particular period of months. And you can precisely define the other intervals too. For example, you can specify "later today" to mean in three hours. The grid of options that pops up also includes a button you can tap to specify a particular date and time.&nbsp;A long swipe left moves the message to a predefined list you've created, such as "Items To Buy." You can create as many lists as you want, and any changes are then also reflected in your Gmail account.&nbsp;You also&nbsp;can tap and hold messages to move them up or down in your inbox.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The vision behind Mailbox is to make it easier to clear your inbox so messages don't just keep piling up. It does this in an intuitive, quick, and fluid fashion, which is likely the reason the app is getting so much attention.</p>
<p>The app has many other appealing features as well. While I've emphasized the gestures in list view to quickly deal with your messages, you also can invoke these actions if you've opened a message&nbsp;simply by tapping the related icons. The Macworld review says that when composing an email, it's much easier to add a photo using Mailbox compared to Apple's Mail. The app also has a number of different and convenient views, including threaded conversations you can quickly expand and a view that shows all of Mailbox's features in a list.</p>
<p>The developers say Mailbox will eventually be compatible with other IMAP email services. But it's not clear to me whether it will work with iCloud.</p>
<p>Overall, I really like the direction this app is taking in regard to email management. This is the way mail apps should work: simple, quick gestures that help you get through the welter of email you face daily. The app is receiving a lot of praise, but the reviews in the App Store are trashing it — only because people don't want to wait to begin using it.</p>
AppsMailboxProductivityTop StoryiPhone576502633Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:00:33 +0000Jim Karpen142218 at http://www.iphonelife.com